Just days after the Boston Celtics paid tribute to the passing of a franchise giant in iconic power forward Tommy Heinsohn at the team’s season opener on Dec. 23, news of former teammate, friend and fellow Celtic legend K.C. Jones following Heinsohn in departing us has broken via multiple sources.
White was perhaps the most under-celebrated yet utterly essential part of Boston’s unparalleled string of titles spanning from the late 1950s to the end of the 1960s, the man part of an elite club of players who have won eight or more titles as a player — all of them former teammates from those halcyon days of Boston basketball.
Sad news on this Christmas: Celtics legend KC Jones has died. Jones, a college teammate of Bill Russell at the University of San Francisco, where they won two NCAA titles, won 12 NBA championships — 11 with Boston: eight as a player, one as an assistant and two as a head coach.
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) December 25, 2020
The Celtic great was fellow Boston luminary Bill Russell’s college roommate at the University of San Francisco, where the duo won back-to-back NCAA titles with the Dons before being drafted together to the Celtics in the 1956 NBA draft.
The pair would continue winning together after Jones finished a tour in the military ending in 1958, and would see the historic run of titles sparked by Russell with Heinsohn two years prior continue unabated until 1966.
Jones would retire after losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in the 1967 East Finals, but remained close to the team.
KC Jones. Great Celtic. Great man. pic.twitter.com/pfGz2Yx13l
— Honest☘️Larry (@HonestLarry1) December 25, 2020
He soon embarked on a coaching career at the collegiate level at nearby Brandeis University that would eventually lead him back to the Celtics as head coach of the team he won eight titles with as a player in 1983.
The Texas native would win two more as a coach with the “original” Big Three of Larry Bird, Robert Parish and Kevin McHale in 1984 and 1986.
Jones would retire from that post in 1988, remaining with the team for a season in an advisory role before moving on to other opportunities. His passing will leave a massive hole in the heart of Celtics fans everywhere.
Rest In Peace, K.C. Jones.
